How to know if your child has been bullied

The Paradise Center for Tolerance and Nonviolence is expanding its bullying prevention program by presenting a community forum for parents, "Bullying Prevention: Helping and Advocating for Your Child." The forum will be held on Dec. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Paradise Ridge Family Resource Center.

"It turns out that we have gotten it together now in the latter part of the semester, but it is something we have been wanting to do," PCTN Board Member Sue Bordelon said. "Bullying prevention is something that is not new to us, we have bullying prevention programs for children that we do in the schools and after-school programs."

At the forum, parents will view two children's bullying stories from the documentary "Bully," that played in theaters for a short time in 2011.

"We want to show the stories that point out the difficulty of communicating with a child, recognizing the signs that they have been bullied - because children have difficulty communicating it to their parents - and for parents to be aware," Bordelon said.

The parents will also be asked to participate in an open discussion at the end of the film to discuss their experiences and ideas on childhood bullying.

"What we want to focus on in the forum is to help parents recognize the warning signs that their children are being bullied and give them suggestions on how to go about talking to their child," she said.

There are several signs that parents may recognize in their children to determine if they are being bullied.

"I don't think you can say there is a number-one sign, there are many signs," she said. "A child being reluctant to go to school, changing their behavior and wanting to be more solitary, their grades falling, coming home and being hungry or having to go to the bathroom, because a lot of bullying takes place in areas of the school where there is not always an adult present."

To continue with their bullying prevention efforts in the future, PCTN is looking to continue with workshops for parents that will include guest speakers. They also hope to create similar workshops for children that they are unable to reach in their after-school programs, Bordelon said.

"We have two youth programs (at the moment), one concentrates on values, on building up a child's sense of empathy, respect for others, appreciation for their city, because all of those elements go into helping a child recognize that bullying is not something that they want to engage in," Bordelon said. "That is because they can empathize, they can see the other child's point of view and understand the hurt that it causes."

That program is called STARS, Safety Tolerance and Respect Superstars. The second program, which was started in 2010, is called You Have the Power.

"It has evolved and been improved upon," she said. "We have done that in all of the charter schools, we have done it with the after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club, but we have not done it at the public schools. The public schools have not invited us to do it, because they feel that they have their own programs."

Bordelon said the community forum will offer childcare for parents who would like to attend but have young children. She added that the program starts at 6:30 p.m. and is about 45 minutes long, but will remain open until the end of the discussion period.

The event is open to the public, and no RSVP is necessary. It will be held at the Paradise Ridge Family Resource Center, located at 6249 Skyway. For further information, or questions, call PCTN at 877-1856.